Today, the Pivotal family got a little bigger with the acquisition of CloudCredo, a collection of some of the foremost experts helping companies unlock the power of the Cloud Foundry platform. In many ways, the story of the marriage of these two companies started three years ago, when Cloud Foundry was initially brought to life.
I sat down with Colin Humphreys, co-founder and CEO of CloudCredo (and also our newest Pivot), to talk through the history of the company and its future at Pivotal.
How did you get involved with Cloud Foundry, and why did you choose to build a company like CloudCredo?
Colin: I loved Cloud Foundry from the moment I saw it and saw in it the ability to unlock really amazing capabilities that I’d not seen elsewhere. I delivered the first production Cloud Foundry, the largest production Cloud Foundry, the first multi-infrastructure Cloud Foundry, and I was the first person to complete a Cloud Foundry “Dojo”. We helped to set up Pivotal’s Cloud Foundry presence in London, and have grown CloudCredo to be the leading Cloud Foundry consultancy in the world. Our client list reads like a “who’s who” of the Cloud Foundry ecosystem—we’ve worked with all the major players. We’ve also been really excited to support the Foundation and help out with the global series of Cloud Foundry Summits. I’ve taken the opportunity to speak at every Summit so far, across the world, and I’ve really enjoyed playing my part spreading the Cloud Foundry message.
OK, what gets you so excited about Cloud Foundry?
Colin: In a time where software has supposedly “eaten the world,” the reality is that we are seeing less and less differentiation in software development processes and tools. As an industry, we are consolidating around “12-Factor” applications and Cloud Native delivery. Cloud Foundry is no longer in its genesis and people have come to know that using a “cf push” will enable them to push code and it will run. The beauty of the Cloud Foundry platform and what gets me so excited is that it continues to evolve and grow and, in many ways, we are at the infancy stage of its lifecycle. I also believe the exciting part of Cloud Foundry is not Cloud Foundry itself, but the higher-level innovation it enables. If we can quickly deliver applications, innovate and iterate, we can learn about our markets and customers and make a positive impact in the world.
Why Pivotal?
Colin: The mission of Pivotal has always been to change the way the world builds software. We share a complementary vision, helping to provide the services and expertise that can be used to unlock its possibilities. We have applied the same Pivotal values—simplicity, respect, fast feedback, courage, communication—with a subtly different focus. We’ve targeted the delivery of services in production environments, because without a live service, you can’t get real user feedback—which is necessary to complete the learning loop. This is a perfect marriage of two sets of people committed to a shared vision of helping the world.
I feel that Pivotal’s and CloudCredo’s directions have converged over time. CloudCredo was all-in on Cloud Foundry before the current Pivotal organization existed. Pivotal, through their Labs heritage, created the methodology and culture adopted by CloudCredo. Pivotal is now responsible for the majority of the code—Cloud Foundry and BOSH—that CloudCredo uses every day. Who else could we possibly partner with? Pivotal’s focus on Cloud Foundry shows that taking software through the last mile—into the hands of users—and obtaining real feedback is of prime importance to them. CloudCredo is a small company and we want to take this message out to the world.
What better way to scale than to join forces with the world’s most influential software company?
Further Reading
- Press release: Pivotal Bolsters Its Cloud Native Platform With The Acquisition Of CloudCredo
- Product information: Pivotal Cloud Foundry
- Resources: Cloud Native Journey
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